NCAA REGIONAL TEAMS The UCLA softball team will
be host to 5 teams in this week’s NCAA Regional. Here are the
teams with their 2001 season record. 1. UCLA (55 – 5) 2. Fresno
State (38 – 17) 3. Cal State Northridge (31 – 22) 4. San Diego
State (38 – 23) 5. Wisconsin (32 – 25) 6. Coastal Carolina (27 –
21) Original graphic by MAGGIE WOO/Daily Bruin Web adaptation by
CHRISTINE TAN/Daily Bruin
By Andrew Borders
Daily Bruin Contributor
The field of 48 for the 2001 NCAA Softball Championship was
announced Sunday, and the No. 2 UCLA Bruins will host one of the
eight groups of six teams, with the Lady Chanticleers of Coastal
Carolina having the brave task of being UCLA’s first
opponent.
“It’s always nice to play at home, to sort of have
your own routine be the same,” said UCLA junior catcher
Stacey Nuveman. “The surroundings, your fans are there, your
family, being close to home, the weather ““ all those
intangibles are in our favor,”
UCLA Head Coach Sue Enquist also appreciates the advantages of
hosting a regional.
“We’re just excited that we’re hosting,
because in the past, we’ve had to travel. We get to be in our
hometown and have our fans and family all be here to see us
perform,” she said.
Coastal Carolina, located in Conway, S.C., is the sixth-seeded
team in UCLA’s group. The Bruins have faced three of the
other four teams in their grouping already this season. The Fresno
State Bulldogs come to L.A. with the second seed in the region, the
Cal State Northridge Matadors take the third seed, and the
Wisconsin Badgers have the fifth seed. The only strangers to UCLA
are the San Diego State Aztecs, who have the fourth seed.
Enquist said that the NCAA selection committee likes to keep
teams in nearby regionals to cut down on travel. These teams are
many of the same ones that UCLA plays in non-conference and midweek
games because they are convenient to visit.
“We appreciate the fact that we’ve played some of
these teams and the mystery factor has been eliminated,” she
said. “We know what weaknesses we had on those days, we know
what pitches their pitchers throw.”
Six other Pac-10 teams made the field. Even though four Pac-10
teams are in the top eight of the latest NFCA/USA Today poll, only
three are hosting. Arizona will host the No. 1 regional, with the
Bruins having the No. 2 regional and the Stanford Cardinal topping
the list in the No. 6 regional. The Arizona State Sun Devils will
be the second seed in the No. 3 regional at Louisiana State, while
the Oregon State Beavers will have the third seed in the No. 4
regional at Alabama.
Last year’s champions, the Oklahoma Sooners, will be
hosting the Washington Huskies as the second seed in the No. 5
bracket, and Cal will travel to Florida State to be the second seed
in the No. 8 bracket.
“One thing that I’ve stopped doing is trying to
predict or figure out or justify (what the committee does),”
Enquist said. “I think the one thing that the committee has
tried to do is provide parity within the regions.”
The only group without a Pac-10 team is the No. 7 regional
group, which will be headed by Notre Dame but will be played at
Iowa. It is graduation weekend in South Bend, so the university
opted not to host.
“Any team would be lying if they said they don’t
mind traveling,” Nuveman said. “It’s not a bad
thing, but obviously when you can get your own regional and
hopefully win it, then you have that comfort zone when you’re
playing and trying to advance to the College World
Series.”
Up to 12 games will be played at Easton Stadium between Thursday
and Sunday. There will be four games Thursday, with the
quadruple-header starting at 9 a.m. CSUN will meet SDSU in that
game, with Fresno State and Wisconsin starting at 11:30 a.m. The
Bruins take the field at 2 p.m. against the Big South Conference
champion Coastal Carolina, followed by the first game of the
consolation bracket at 4:30 p.m., with the UCLA/Coastal Carolina
loser meeting the Fresno State/Wisconsin loser.
The bracket is double elimination, and the winner can wrap up a
trip to Oklahoma City with four straight victories. The winners of
the eight regionals will meet in the Women’s College World
Series May 24-28. Whichever team comes out of UCLA’s bracket
will be the No. 2 seed in the WCWS.